Lowering council tax? Labour calls on Harrow Council leader to prove plan is realistic

As Harrow Council's cabinet met for the last time this year on Thursday, Conservative leader of the authority announced that she wanted to go one step further than her draft budget which will freeze council tax if approved in February, and even reduce it if possible.

The Conservative administration is pledging to look at cutting council tax – branded an 'election gimmick' by the opposition.

As Harrow Council's cabinet met for the last time this year on Thursday, Conservative leader of the authority announced that she wanted to go one step further than her draft budget which will freeze council tax if approved in February, and even reduce it if possible.

She told the Observer after the meeting: “What some town halls still don’t get is the public don’t buy council tax increases anymore. Our residents expect their local authority to do better and make the kind of cost savings that they have personally made.

“A council tax freeze is now the minimum any efficient local authority should deliver. My Conservative administration is going to go further and look to cut council tax in future years, and that is my pledge.

"Zero is where we start from and it goes down from there.”

Within the budget the Tories also are bidding to dish out over £500,000 in pursuing their Cleaner, Safer, Fairer agenda by dramatically increasingly outgoings on environmental and preventative measures.

How they are paying for it, however, is what Labour leader Councillor David Perry is taking issue with.

He said: "This is yet more electioneering from Susan Hall. Their recent draft budget was reckless, irresponsible and unfair.

"They created a £8million deficit, whilst taking £2million away from a fund that Labour created to help the most in need in Harrow.

"For the Conservatives to throw an idea out of looking to reduce council tax without saying how they will pay for it is completely misleading the people of Harrow. I therefore call for Susan Hall to outline which services her administration will be cutting to pay for this election gimmick."